How (Not) To Fix A Broken Nose
by 1eleven1
Summary: Catra can handle a nasal fracture on her own... until she has to sneeze. Scorpia tries to help. Mild language, mild Scorptra.


**Hey guys, hope you're having a good day! This is just a short story I wrote about Catra and Scorpia after the Battle of Brightmoon between seasons 1 and 2. My endgame is Catradora but this was fun to write. Even if I don't ship them, I love their dynamic, and let's be real, Catra has some pretty complex feelings for a few of the female characters on this show and I'm kinda here for that. Just a stupid little scene between the two, but I hope you enjoy!**

Catra was in a good mood that morning. Despite the princess victory from the other day, nothing could dampen her spirits. She'd fallen into favor with Lord Hordak, and now Shadow Weaver was out and she was in, for the first time in her life. And her first act as second-in-command was to sort out all the paperwork left behind in Shadow Weaver's office space. A little mundane… but really, how hard could that be? Might as well get the boring work out of the way now to make way for all the fun.

As she sat at the table sifting through papers, squad leader Scorpia joined her, bringing them each a thermos of hot tea. One of the perks of being a higher class in the Horde was that you could add flavor packets to your water, like juice or in this case a tea bag. Certainly the Rebellion didn't know what they were missing out on.

"Gooood morning, Captain!" Scorpia sang as she waltzed in, setting down one of the drinks near Catra. "And how are you today?"

"How do you think?" Catra said, flashing her a smile. "I'm second highest in the food chain! Things are finally starting to look up around here."

"You got that right! And let me just say, I am so proud of you, Top Cat! You are making your dreams come true and I just couldn't be happier!"

"Yeah, yeah, save your flattery and grab a stack of papers. There's way more of this shit than I thought there'd be," Catra said, taking a swig of her tea. But as she did, the mug bumped against the bridge of her nose – and immediately she felt her mistake.

"OWW! Ow ow _owwwchh… _DAMN it-!"

"Catra! What's the matter? Is it too hot?" Scorpia immediately rushed over, eager to dote on her favorite person.

Catra winced, tears beading in her eyes. "Nnngh…! No, it's just those damn princesses broke my nose the other day. _Rrrrgh_, it kills!"

"Oh, I've done that plenty of times! That's just what happens when you've got a nose as big as mine, ha ha... Yeah, it does not feel too good. Want me to fix it up for you?"

"What, you mean bandage it up so I look like an idiot? It's just my nose, it'll heal fine it's own," Catra said, trying to wave her off.

"A-Are you sure?" Scorpia said, leaning in to inspect the damage. "I see it looks a little crooked, don't you want the bone to heal properly?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Catra groaned, pushing her away. "Leave. It. Alo..."

But unfortunately, a sudden familiar feeling began to wash over her. A feeling that was usually nothing to worry about, but right now, with a broken nose, she had no desire to encourage it. A small tingle in her sinuses made her eyes start to glaze over, her mouth parting slightly. Instinctively she reached up towards her mouth, and Scorpia noticed her plight.

"Uh oh, Big Cat, I know that face," Scorpia said tentatively. "You're about to sneeze, huh?"

"I'm… not…" Catra managed, pinching her nose hard before immediately regretting it. "Nnghhh… _owww…_"

"You okay, chief?"

"I'm fine, just…" Catra's nose twitched as the need to sneeze stung her again, but this time she resisted the urge to touch her face – even when she wrinkled her nose she could feel the pain of the bone out of place. "Ngh… nn, this… this sucks! Stupid, broken…" She squeezed her hands into fists tightly, trying to distract herself from the pain in the center of her face.

"Aww, man, Catra, I'm sorry. If you sneeze, it's really gonna hurt, huh?"

"I know, that's why I'm trying _not_ to…" Catra said through gritted teeth.

"Well, hey, you are in luck, my friend, because over the years I've learned some tips and tricks on how to avoid sneezing! And they really do work! There's actually a bunch of them, you'd be surprised-"

"T-Tell me already," Catra growled, massaging her forehead in the hopes it would do some good.

"Okay, okay, try this: say 'pickles'!"

Catra narrowed her eyes at her, pissed. "_No_."

"Or, or you could say 'pineapple', that works, too – still no? Okay, um, try running your tongue on the roof of your mouth and the back of your teeth. Oh, and don't look at the light, that just makes it worse."

Catra squeezed her eyes shut, pushing her tongue back and forth against the roof of her mouth. For a moment, she felt like she was getting somewhere, that maybe it would go away… but then it came back again. She sniffed, hoping it would help, but it didn't. _Shit… _

"Listen, Scorpia… heh…" The first beats of the sneeze escaped her, and she felt her brow furrow in irritation, holding it back as best as she could. " 'S not working…"

"You didn't try saying 'pickles' yet!"

"And I'm not going to- _heh…_"

"Or pineapple?"

Catra shot her a death glare. "_Scorpia…_"

"Okay, well, um, I have another idea, but you may not like it…"

"What is-" Catra started, but the sneeze caught in her throat and started to take over. Right as she felt herself forced to give in, she suddenly felt something else, too – a pair of lips pushing back against hers, soft and firm all at once. Her eyes shot open in shock and bewilderment. This was… no way… Scorpia was _kissing_ her?!

After a few seconds, Scorpia pulled away, blinking her eyes open again. Catra just stared back at her, her mouth slightly agape. Scorpia turned a soft shade of pink, looking at her expectantly to see if it had worked. Meanwhile Catra could feel her cheeks getting hotter and redder by the second. _Wh-what… the hell… just… _But she didn't have much time to think about it – suddenly, the sneeze came back with a vengeance.

"Eh-heh… _heh… __**HEH-EH'TSCHIUUu-!**__"_

Despite their best efforts, it still came out, strong and painful. Both of them froze for a minute, Scorpia with her hands in the air in surprise and Catra bent at the waist from the force of it. A few long, quiet seconds passed. Then, Scorpia broke the silence.

"Oh- Oh, wow, um, bless you, Catra! That sneeze was so big, um, are you okay-?"

"_What do you think?!_" Catra rounded on her, now cupping a bloody nose between her hands, her eyes watering fiercely from the pain. "Wh-What the hell was that?! You idiot, did you really think that would help?!"

"I-I did! Otherwise I wouldn't have done it! But you're right, I-I'm so stupid! I'm sorry, Catra, let's get you cleaned up," Scorpia said hurriedly, running to the nearest first aid kit on the wall.

"Aughhh... _owww__wchh_, that hurt like _hell-_!" Catra whined, wiping at the blood above her lip. "None of your stupid methods even came close to working!"

"You are so right, Catra, and I'm so sorry. Here," Scorpia said, handing Catra some gauze and tissues, who snatched them from her hand. Catra pressed the gauze beneath her nostrils, then examined the bloody results. Ugh… It hurt as much as it looked. Stupid damn broken nose… Suddenly she felt eyes on her and looked up at to see Scorpia gripping her claws together anxiously.

"…What the hell are you looking at?!"

"N-Nothing! I just… I'm sorry. I didn't even ask you first. That was so wrong of me… I hope you can forgive me."

"…Whatever," Catra spat, holding the tissue under her nose. She could feel how red her cheeks were still and she hated it. "Y-You're just… so stupid…"

"Oh, no, Catra! I… I didn't… that wasn't your first time, was it?" Scorpia asked nervously, covering her mouth with her claws. "Because if it was, then I'm even more sorry!"

Catra sighed, then looked away. If she made a big deal out of this, it was just going to bite her in the ass later… It was time to change the topic. "I'm not talking about this," she hissed, shifting awkwardly. "You owe me that much, you know."

"O-Of course," Scorpia nodded quickly. "Um, then please, allow me to show my sincerest apologies by bandaging your injury properly for you."

"Ugh. I don't need a bandage, it'll heal fine by itself. It's not like it's my leg or something. You've done enough as it is, Scorpia, leave it be already."

"I promise it'll only take two seconds, just let me put on enough to make sure it heals straight – look at my nose, can you tell it's been broken before? I put a few bandages over mine and it healed, good as new!"

Catra looked over, inspecting her comrade's face. Scorpia's nose was definitely bigger than hers... but it was indeed straight. Catra shrugged her shoulders again.

"Fine, fine, make it quick," she said, relenting.

So Scorpia got to work. Instinctively Catra had leaned away from her claws coming towards her face, but Scorpia was careful and concise. A strip of medical tape over the center of her nose, one going up the bridge, and a small strip between her brows... and surprisingly Catra felt a bit of a change for the better. The bandages did help take some of the pressure off, and it didn't really hurt so bad anymore. Scorpia pulled away, examining her work.

"Okeedokee, good as new, Wild Cat! Now it'll probably still hurt a bit, but that should lessen the pain, at least."

Catra wrinkled her nose a little, and sure enough it didn't feel nearly as bad. Hmm. Maybe Scorpia wasn't always a complete moron…

"Fine, fine…" she muttered. "Thanks, I guess…"

"What was that?" Scorpia's eyes positively sparkled. "Did you say what I think you just said? Could it be? The magic words?"

Catra shoved her hand into the other girl's face. "Don't push your luck."

"Oh, no, Catra, I think you just broke _my_ nose!" Scorpia teased, holding her head between her claws. "Oh, the pain! The agony!"

"Oh, please, I did not!"

"Ha ha, you're right, I was only kidding! You always see right through me, Catra!"

"Yeah, whatever… Just get back to work."

For the rest of the day, the two continued on with business as usual. Only when they'd sometimes catch each other's eyes for a moment too long did Catra remember… Ugh. So, so stupid! Why did it make her feel so… strange!? She wished that weird feeling in her chest would just go away already-! Well, Catra wasn't about to take the time figure out what was causing it, anyways. There were more pressing matters she had to think about, like all the paperwork she'd taken over and checking up on the new tech Entrapta was working on. There was no time to think about something as trivial as a broken nose and the butterflies in her stomach, not when she had Lord Hordak to appease.

But about an hour later, her sinuses began to itch all over again. There was one hell of a month in store for her.


End file.
